1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to inflatable penile prostheses implantable within one or more corpus cavernosa of the male penis for treating erectile impotency.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
A wide variety of penile prostheses have been developed in the past which are inflated by pumping a source of fluid into a pressurizable chamber situated in the portion of the penis extending outwardly of the body plane. The pressurization of the inflatable chamber causes the device to be transformed from an angled, bent of flaccid condition to a straight, erect condition. Certain of these devices actually expand upon pressurization in order to stress or tension the user's bodily tissues which surround the implanted device. Specifically, certain devices expand in girth so that the tunic albuginea, which is a fibrous tissue that surrounds the corpus cavernosa, is stressed and placed in tension to simulate the normal biological phenomenon known as erection.
One desirable problem with devices which expand against the tunica albuginea is that weak spots may be present in the tunica which may result in localized bulges (anuerysmal dialation). When the tunica is unable to restrain the artificial prosthesis, the prosthesis may expand through the weak spot in the tunica resulting in a weakened blister or balloon. This blister or balloon may fail resulting in loss of pressurization of the device. While such occurrences are fortunately quite rare, it would be highly desirable to guard against the possibility of bulging brought about by weak spots in the tunica albuginea.